Question

riefly define: Anxiety, phobias, panic attacks/panic disorder What are some of the causes of these disorders? what are the standard treatments for these disorders? Do you agree with the current methods of medication first before therapy? Why or why not.

Answer 1

Definitions:

Anxiety - unpleasant feelings that usually consist of worry and tensions with ANS arousals.

Phobias - A form of an anxiety disorder, where fears get out of hand. Some common types include: ablutophobia, arachnophobia, agoraphobia, acrophobia, etc.

Panic attacks and disorders: Panic attack is usually due to magnification of a certain event of stimulus, and the individual may report of dealing with a heart attack. Strong ANS arousals are there, and it’s common in female teenagers. A panic disorder is when panic attacks occur repeatedly for over 6 months. Some risk factors include smoking.

Answer 2

Causes of these anxiety disorders:

Cognitive psychologists say:
Magnification - interpret situations as more dangerous than they truly are.
All-or-nothing thinking - If the result is not perfect, then everything is a failure.
Overgeneralization - tendency to misinterpret a small negative outcome and a never-ending defeat.
Minimization - giving no value to your achievements
Arbitrary inference - jumping to conclusions with no basis or reasoning
Selective thinking - Only look at 1 aspect, not the big picture
Personalization - person takes responsibility for unrelated events

Psychodynamic and behavioral psychologists say:
Past experiences are the reason why people get anxiety disorders (i.e. PTSD in veterans, a snake bite in childhood gives the same individual arachnophobia as a 43 year old adult.)

Answer 3

THis is so respurceful. I will be studying this!

Answer 4

Thank you

Answer 5

Medical treatment:
SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibiters] are givien to treat some anxiety disorders like GAD, PTSD, OCD, and Panic disorder.
MAOIs (Monoamine oxidase Inhibiters)
Trycyclic antidepressants

Standards of therapy: [in order of popularity and importance]
Systemic densitization: Developed by Wolpe, this is a behavioral approach to phobias. The client is told to make a list of fears and taught relaxation techniques while concentrating on them.
Flooding Therapy/Exposure therapy: Another behavioral approach, where a classical conditioning is used. A pleasant stimulus is given with the unpleasant stimulus (the phobia stimuli) to remove anxiety.
Participant Modeling

Answer 6

source is Ciccarelli, Saundra K. Psychology (AP Edition), 4th Edition.

Answer 7

?

Answer 8

It depends on the type of anxiety disorder and the degree of that disorder; if it’s impeding daily tasks, medication may be needed to suppress the anxiety. However, if it depends more on the circumstances, the client should consider some therapy prior to medication if necessary. Medication has side effects, as well, such as tardive dyskinesia, which is why these medications, such as Prozac (SSRI) should be considered and used when most necessary.

Answer 9

Correct

Answer 10

You can use that but I didn't use a source.

Answer 11

You can also include in the last response:
The client should try and exercise more often and that could be enough to suppress the anxiety disorder, instead of taking medications. The exercise releases endorphins which would keep the client in a lightened mood.